Mobile device and method for secure on-line sign-up and provisioning for wi-fi hotspots using SOAP-XML techniques

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of a mobile device and method for secure on-line sign-up and provisioning of credential for Wi-Fi hotspots using SOAP-XML techniques are generally described herein. Techniques for subscription remediation using SOAP-XML techniques are also generally described herein. In some embodiments, the mobile device may be configured to establish a transport-layer security (TLS) session with a sign-up server through a Wi-Fi Hotspot to receive a certificate of the sign-up server. When the certificate is validated, the mobile device may be configured to exchange device management messages with the sign-up server to sign-up for a Wi-Fi subscription and provisioning of credentials, and retrieve a subscription management object (MO) that includes a reference to the provisioned credentials for storage in a device management tree.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a U.S. National Stage Filing under 35 U.S.C. 371from International Application No. PCT/US2011/051056, filed on Sep. 9,2011, and published in English as WO 2012/036992 on Mar. 22, 2012 whichis incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/173,338, entitled “MOBILE DEVICE AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATICCONNECTIVITY, DATA OFFLOADING AND ROAMING BETWEEN NETWORKS,” filed Jun.30, 2011, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

This application is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/188,205, entitled “SECURE ON-LINE SIGN-UP AND PROVISIONING FOR WI-FIHOTSPOTS USING A DEVICE-MANAGEMENT PROTOCOL,” filed Jul. 21, 2011, whichis incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments pertain to wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) networks. Someembodiments pertain to secure on-line sign-up and provisioning ofcredentials for service and connectivity. Some embodiments relate tosecure on-line sign-up and provisioning using Simple Object AccessProtocol (SOAP) extensible-markup language (XML) techniques. Someembodiments relate to Hotspot 2.0 networks and the Hotspot 2.0evolution.

BACKGROUND

One issue with subscription establishment with a service provider forWi-Fi network access is that it is not a simple and user-friendlyprocess. There is no standardized process for secure on-line sign-up andprovisioning of credentials for Wi-Fi enabled devices and networks.Users generally may have to confront web pages of different types, enterinformation and select their usernames/passwords at different locations.

Another issue with subscription establishment is security. Open networksmay not provide sufficient security while secure networks (such as thosethat are 802.1x enabled) may prohibit access to non-registrants. Currentonline sign-up mechanisms expose users to unacceptable security riskssuch as getting their credit card and personal information stolen (e.g.,thru well-known honey-pot, or twin-evil security holes).

Another issue with subscription establishment is the different types ofcredentials that may need to be provisioned. Some devices or networksmay require certificate-based credentials while some other devices ornetworks may use username/password credentials. Other devices ornetworks may use subscriber-information module (SIM) type credentials(e.g., generally used for some cellular networks).

Thus, there are general needs for secure on-line sign-up andprovisioning of credentials. There are also general needs for secureon-line sign-up and provisioning of credentials securely using on-linesign systems that use SOAP-XML techniques as a transport. There are alsogeneral needs for a standardized process for secure on-line sign-up thatis suitable for provisioning different types of credentials such asusername/password credentials, SIM type credentials andcertificate-based credentials. There are also general needs for astandardized process for secure on-line sign-up and provisioning ofcredentials that is suitable for use in any 802.11 based networkincluding both open and secure networks.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an operational environment of network elements forsecure on-line sign-up and provisioning of credentials in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 2 is an overview for secure on-line sign-up and provisioning ofcredentials using SOAP-XML techniques in accordance with someembodiments;

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate messages exchanged for secure on-line sign-upand provisioning of certificate-based credentials using SOAP-XMLtechniques in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates messages exchanged for secure on-line sign-up andprovisioning of username/password type credentials using SOAP-XMLtechniques in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates messages exchanged for subscription remediation usingSOAP-XML techniques in accordance with some embodiments; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a management object tree in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates a mobile device in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustratespecific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practicethem. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical,process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodimentsmay be included in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments.Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass all available equivalentsof those claims.

Embodiments of the present invention provide for secure online signupand provisioning of credentials for Wi-Fi hotspot service so that userscan establish a subscription with a Wi-Fi service provider and downloadcredentials and policy components onto the client device in a securemanner using SOAP-XML techniques. This allows operators (e.g., Wi-Fiservice providers) to develop an online signup mechanism at a much lowercost using standardized tools. Embodiments are applicable to both legacyWi-Fi networks and evolving Hotspot 2.0 networks. Embodiments of thepresent invention also provide for subscription remediation for updatingcredentials for Wi-Fi hotspot service using SOAP-XML techniques.

FIG. 1 illustrates an operational environment of network elements forsecure on-line sign-up and provisioning of credentials in accordancewith some embodiments. Mobile device 102 may be a Wi-Fi enabled devicethat is configured to associate with a Wi-Fi hotspot 104 and perform thevarious operations described herein for secure on-line sign-up andprovisioning. The Wi-Fi hotspot 104 may provide Internet access over awireless local area network (WLAN) with a router connected to a link toan Internet service provider. The Wi-Fi hotspot 104 may be part of aWi-Fi network and may be coupled to a network 105, such as the Internetor through a gateway to other various network elements including acertificate authority 120, a subscription server 106, an activationportal 108, a certificate enrollment server 110, and a registrar 122among others. In some embodiments, the subscription server 106 may be aserver configured to exchange messages in accordance with SOAP-XMLtechniques. The Wi-Fi hotspot 104 may operate as a Wi-Fi access point(AP). The mobile device 102 may include a SOAP processing element 125configured to implement SOAP-XML techniques and perform variousoperation described herein. Similarly, the subscription server 106 mayinclude a SOAP processing element 135 configured to implement SOAP-XMLtechniques as described in more detail below.

In some embodiments, the Wi-Fi hotspot 104 may include an accesscontroller (AC) 124 to serve as a management entity for the Wi-Fihotspot 104. The access controller 124 may manage several access pointsof the Wi-Fi network and may operate as a gateway for a WLAN accessnetwork to provide access to other networks such as the Internet. Theaccess controller 124 may perform various operations described here toallow mobile devices access to a Wi-Fi network.

In accordance with embodiments, the mobile device 102 may be configuredfor secure on-line sign-up and provisioning of credentials for Wi-Fihotspots. In some embodiments, the mobile device 102 may be configuredfor secure on-line sign-up and provisioning for Wi-Fi hotspots usingSOAP-XML techniques. In these embodiments, the mobile device 102 and thesubscription server 106 may exchange request and response messages thatare configured in accordance with a Simple Object Access Protocol(SOAP).

In some embodiments, the secure on-line sign-up and provisioning processdescribed herein allows users to establish a subscription with a serviceprovider and download credentials and operator policy onto a clientdevice, such as the mobile device 102, in a secure manner using SOAP-XMLtechniques as a transport. This may allow cellular-type network serviceproviders that may already be implementing SOAP-XML techniques in theirbackend core networks to use the same servers and installed componentsto extend that functionality for servicing Wi-Fi networks.

Some embodiments provide a standardized process for secure on-linesign-up and provisioning credentials including username/passwordcredentials, certificate-based credentials and SIM-type credentials. Thestandardized process for secure on-line sign-up and provisioningcredentials may be applicable to almost any IEEE 802.11-based networkmaking the process applicable to both open and secure networks. A secureWi-Fi network, for example, may implement security in accordance with arobust-security network (RSN) protocol. Such a network may be consideredan RSN network (i.e., a security network that allows the creation ofrobust security network associations (RSNAs)).

Accordingly, users may no longer have to confront web pages of differenttypes and enter information and select their usernames/passwords atdifferent locations. Wi-Fi networks may now be easier to use and aremore secure. The use of SOAP-XML techniques allow Wi-Fi networkoperations to be easily integrated with current and future cellular-typenetworks. In some embodiments, secure on-line sign-up and provisioningof credentials may be performed automatically and without userinteraction.

In accordance with embodiments, the mobile device 102 may be configuredfor secure on-line sign-up and provisioning for Wi-Fi Hotspot 2.0networks. In these embodiments, the mobile device 102 may be configuredto authenticate with a Wi-Fi network through the Wi-Fi Hotspot 104 usingan Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) technique. As part of theauthentication, a RADIUS ACCESS-ACCEPT message is received by the Wi-Fihotspot 104 from the AAA server 126 to allow the mobile device 102access to the Wi-Fi network and establish a Wi-Fi connection with themobile device 102. The mobile device 102 may perform an initial SOAPexchange with the subscription server 106 over the established Wi-Ficonnection to request provisioning of credentials or requestsubscription remediation, the initial SOAP exchange including the mobiledevice authenticating the subscription server 106. The mobile device mayalso exchange information with the subscription server 106 to establisha subscription with a service provider for Wi-Fi network access, toprovision credentials for the subscription, and to create a subscriptionmanagement object MO for the provisioned credentials. The mobile devicemay also perform a final SOAP exchange with the subscription server 106over the Wi-Fi network to receive the subscription MO.

In these embodiments, in response to receipt of the RADIUS ACCESS-ACCEPTmessage, the Wi-Fi Hotspot 104 is configured to send an EAP-Successmessage to the mobile device 102 indicating a successful authentication.In some embodiments, the association with the Wi-Fi hotspot 104, theinitial and final SOAP exchanges as well as authentication of thesubscription server 106 may be performed without user input (i.e.,automatically). In some embodiments, the exchange of information withthe subscription server 106 for subscription establishment may also beperformed without user input depending on the information needed. Insome embodiments, the method may include prompting the user for userinput and providing the user input to the subscription server 106.

In some embodiments, the initial SOAP exchange may include providing atleast some device capability information of the mobile device 102 andindicating a reason for the request (e.g., provisioning of credentialsor remediation of a subscription). When the reason for the request isprovisioning of credentials, the subscription server 106 may indicatethe type of credentials to be provisioned.

In some embodiments, the initial and final SOAP exchanges comprisemessages configured in accordance with a SOAP technique using secureHypertext Transfer Protocol HTTPS as an application layer protocol fortransport. The messages may be configured in accordance with anextensible-markup language XML message format. The HTTPS may include acombination of HTTP with SSL/TLS protocol to provide secure andencrypted communications.

In some embodiments, the RADIUS ACCESS-ACCEPT message may include accessrestrictions to be enforced by the Wi-Fi Hotspot 104. The accessrestrictions to limit access of the mobile device 102 to the Wi-Finetwork for either provisioning of credentials or subscriptionremediation. The Wi-Fi Hotspot 104 may be configured to enforce theaccess restrictions by limiting the mobile device 102 to performance ofthe initial and final SOAP exchanges and the exchange of informationwith the service provider for either provisioning of credentials orsubscription remediation.

After receiving the subscription MO, the mobile device may be configuredto disassociating with the Wi-Fi Hotspot 104 after the final SOAPexchange, and re-associating with the Wi-Fi Hotspot 104 to re-establisha Wi-Fi connection. When re-associating, the mobile device 102 may beconfigured to use an EAP technique and may provide the provisionedcredentials to the AAA server 126 over the re-established Wi-Ficonnection. A RADIUS ACCESS-ACCEPT message may be received at the Wi-FiHotspot 104 from the AAA server 126 to grant the mobile device 102access to the Wi-Fi network in accordance with the user's subscription.In some embodiments, the disassociating and re-associating may beperformed without any user interaction. The Wi-Fi Hotspot 104 isconfigured to implement access restrictions indicated in the RADIUSACCESS-ACCEPT message that are associated with the user's subscription.

In some embodiments, as part of the initial SOAP exchange with thesubscription server 106, the subscription server 106 may be configuredto determine the type of credentials to be provisioned and to indicatethe type of credentials to be provisioned to the mobile device 102. Thetype of credentials to be provisioned includes one or certificate-basedcredentials, username/password credentials, or subscriber-informationmodule SIM type credentials. The provisioning of credentials may includeexchanging SOAP configured messages as described in more detail below.The type of credentials to be provisioned may be determined by theoperator or service provider. Operator policy may be used determine thetype of credentials to provision and use for authentication.

When subscription mediation is needed (i.e., there is a problem with theuser's subscription), the method includes the mobile device receiving anaction message indicating a need for subscription remediation afterassociating with the Wi-Fi Hotspot 104 and subsequent authenticationrequest. During the initial SOAP exchange, the mobile device isconfigured to request subscription remediation with a subscriptionmediation server 506 and to exchange information in accordance with aSOAP technique. In some embodiments, the subscription mediation servermay be the same server as the subscription server 106, although this isnot a requirement.

In accordance with embodiments, the mobile device 102 may be configuredwith registrar information, such as the URL of the registrar 122. Theregistrar 122 may contain service provider entries, which may includethe service provider fully qualified domain name (FQDN), the serviceprovider friendly name, and the service provider on-line sign-up roottrust. The registrar 122 may provide cryptographic binding between theservice-provider domain name and other data. The registrar 122 may beused by the mobile device 102 to establish a trust relationship betweenthe mobile device 102 and an online sign-up server, such as subscriptionserver 106. When the mobile device 102 initiates on-line sign-up, it mayquery the registrar 122 for metadata of the on-line sign-up server andmay verify the authenticity of the on-line sign-up service provider. Themobile device 102 may also download the registry information in advanceand may store it locally and use it when it initiates the secure on-linesign-up and provisioning process described herein. If the mobile device102 is a dual-mode mobile device (e.g., having both cellular networkcapability and Wi-Fi network capability), the mobile device 102 may alsobe configured to query the registrar 122 in real-time using acellular-network connection to retrieve on-line sign-up serverinformation and to verify authenticity.

In accordance with embodiments, the mobile device 102 may be configuredto associate with a Wi-Fi hotspot 104 of a Wi-Fi network and establish atransport-layer security (TLS) session with the subscription server 106through the Wi-Fi hotspot 104 to receive a digital certificate of thesubscription server 106. In accordance with embodiments, the mobiledevice 102 may exchange information over the established secure HTTPconnection with the activation portal 108 to provision a subscriptionfor Wi-Fi network access and create a subscription management object(MO). The subscription MO may include a reference to the type ofcredentials (e.g., username/password, SIM-type or certificate-based)that have been provisioned for automatic connectivity to certain Wi-Finetworks including Hotspot 2.0 networks.

In the case of username/password credentials, the subscription MO mayinclude a username and password. In the case of SIM-type credentials,the subscription MO may include at least some basic information aboutthe SIM-type credentials. In the case of certificate-based credentials,the subscription MO may include information for accessingcertificate-based credentials. These embodiments are described in moredetail below.

Although many embodiments are described herein for secure on-linesign-up and provisioning for Wi-Fi Hotspot 2.0 networks, the scope ofthe invention is not limited in this respect. Other embodiments areapplicable to secure on-line sign-up and provisioning for other types ofnetworks including other wireless local-area networks (WLANs) andcellular-type networks.

In accordance with some embodiments, the certificate authority 120 maybe a Hotspot 2.0 Certificate Authority (CA) (i.e., the Root Trust) andmay be configured to issue certificates including Hotspot 2.0certificates. The registrar 122 may be where a company or organizationthat is registered as a Hotspot 2.0 service provider. The registrar 122may include an already registered FQDN and /or a chosen friendly name.The FQDN owner may be identified in a publicly available “WHOIS”database. The chosen friendly name should not be similar or confusedwith already registered friendly names. The registrar 122 may invokerules for registration that may allow the rejection of a requestedfriendly name, if not appropriate. The registrar 122 may maintain thedatabase of registered service providers along with their friendly namesand remove invalid entries. A Hotspot 2.0 certificate from thecertificate authority 120 may only be issued to a registered entity(i.e., registered with the registrar database). The certificate may havea lifetime that does not exceed the FQDN registration lifetime. In somecases, the registrar 122 may also act as a certificate authority.

In accordance with embodiments, the mobile device 102 may obtain one ormore Hotspot 2.0 root certificate(s) from the certificate authority 120and the root certificate may identify the server's FQDN and indicatethat it is usable for HTTPS based authentication for on-line sign-up andprovisioning of credentials. The Hotspot 2.0 service provider mayprovision the on-line subscription server 106 with certificates from thecertificate authority 120 and may provision appropriate policy settingson the on-line subscription server 106. These embodiments are discussedin more detail below.

A service provider's network may also include an authentication,authorization, and accounting (AAA) server 126 that includes, amongother things, a subscriber database. The AAA server 126 may communicatewith network elements such as a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol(DHCP) server 127 for dynamic allocation of IP addresses and Domain NameServer (DNS) 128 for domain-name translation, as well as performingother networking operations.

In some embodiments, the Wi-Fi hotspot 104 may be a Wi-Fi Hotspot 2.0operating in accordance with a Hotspot 2.0 evolution specification, suchas the Hotspot 2.0 evolution specification of the Wi-Fi Alliance. Themobile device 102 may be a Hotspot 2.0 enabled device and thesubscription information may include pre-provisioned subscriptioninformation for automatic connection to a Wi-Fi Hotspot 2.0. A Wi-Finetwork may be a wireless network including a Wi-Fi hotspot configuredto operate in accordance with one of the IEEE 802.11 standards (andamendments thereto) for WLANs.

A Wi-Fi network may use a carrier-sense multiple access technique withcollision avoidance (CSMA/CA) in which upstream and downstreamcommunications use the same frequency channels in accordance with atime-division multiplexed process. Some Wi-Fi networks may useorthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). Cellular networks, onthe other hand, such as fourth-generation (4G) LTE networks and WiMAXnetworks, implement an orthogonal-frequency division multiple access(OFDMA) technique. Third-generation (3G) cellular networks may use acode-division multiple access (CDMA) technique. In some embodiments, themobile device 102 may be a dual-mode device having physical-layercircuitry configured for communicating with both Wi-Fi and cellularnetworks.

FIG. 2 is an overview for secure on-line sign-up and provisioning ofcredentials using SOAP-XML in accordance with some embodiments. In theseembodiments, server side authentication is used to authenticate thenetwork components. Thereafter the Wi-Fi network redirects the mobiledevice 102 to the subscription server 106 to establish the subscriptionand create credentials or to a subscription remediation server forsubscription remediation.

In operation 202, the mobile device 102 initiates the credentialprovisioning process by associating with the Wi-Fi network using an EAPmethod. A successful EAP exchange culminates in an RADIUS ACCESS-ACCEPTmessage 203 delivered to the Wi-Fi hotspot 104. The RADIUS ACCESS-ACCEPTmessage 203 may include or indicate access restrictions for the Wi-Fihotspot 104 to enforce on its behalf. The use of access restrictionsduring the credential provisioning process may help protect the networkand prevent a user from obtaining internet access. In some embodiments,a RADIUS authentication protocol may be performed as part of operation202. In some embodiments, the RADIUS ACCESS-ACCEPT message 203 mayinclude instructions to cause the Wi-Fi hotspot 104 to limit access ofthe mobile device 102 to a restricted set of servers.

In operation 206, an initial SOAP exchange is performed by the mobiledevice 102 authenticate the subscription server 106, to provide at leastsome device capability information to the subscription server 106, andto inform the subscription server 106 whether provisioning ofcredentials is requested or whether subscription remediation isrequested. When the mobile device 102 already has credentials, as is thecase for subscription remediation, the subscription server 106 mayautomatically authenticate the mobile. Upon receipt of this information,the subscription server 106 may determine whether user input is neededor whether machine-only exchange messages are needed. If user input isneeded, the subscription server 106 may inform the mobile device 102 tolaunch a browser. If machine-only messages are needed, the response fromthe subscription server 106 may contain an indication that the messageflow is complete or that additional machine exchanges are needed. Inthese embodiments, messages in this flow may carry an HTTP content typeof “application/soap+xml”. The messages may be delivered to the SOAPprocessing application in both the mobile device 102 (e.g., SOAPprocessing element 125) and the SOAP processing application in thesubscription server 106 (e.g., SOAP processing element 135).

Operation 212 is performed when user input needed (e.g., to sign-up forservice or to pay a bill). In operation 212, the mobile device 102 maylaunch browser and the user may be prompted for information viawebpages. At the end of the user exchange, the message flow may becompleted or further messages may be required; in either case, thesubscription server 106 may inform the mobile device 102 the messageexchange is complete or alternatively identify the next step in theprocess. In these embodiments, messages in this flow carry HTTP contenttypes used for webpages. This includes, but is not limited to“text/html”, “application/xml” and “application/xhtml+xml” contenttypes.

In operation 214, a final SOAP exchange may complete the credentialprovisioning process. This final SOAP exchange may comprisemachine-to-machine communication (i.e., no user input needed). Thisfinal SOAP exchange may be used when provisioning certificates. In theseembodiments, messages in this flow carry an HTTP content type of“application/soap+xml”. These messages may be delivered to the SOAPprocessing applications of both the mobile device 102 and thesubscription server 106.

In operation 226, the mobile device 102 may disassociate from the Wi-Finetwork since credentials may have been provisioned. In operation 338,the mobile device 102 may associate and authenticate a subsequent timeto the Wi-Fi network. The Wi-Fi Hotspot 104 may relay EAP messages toand from the AAA server 126. At the end of a successful EAP exchangeculminating in an Access-Accept RADIUS message 230, the AAA server 126may deliver any access restrictions to the Wi-Fi Hotspot 104, ifapplicable, according to the user's subscription. Any accessrestrictions that were instantiated for credential provisioning orsubscription remediation are thereby removed.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate messages exchanged for secure on-line sign-upand provisioning of certificate-based credentials using SOAP-XMLtechniques in accordance with some embodiments. In operation 302, themobile device 102 may associate with a Wi-Fi hotspot 104. In someembodiments, the mobile device 102 may initially scan for Hotspot 2.0enabled networks and may also look for indications in the beacon of aWi-Fi hotspot to determine if the Wi-Fi network is secure (e.g.,RSN-enabled and whether it has support for Hotspot 2.0 connectivity).The mobile device 102 may select the most appropriate network based onuser preferences. If the mobile device 102 determines that it does nothave a subscription with the selected service provider, it may beconfigured to automatically engage in on-line sign-up and provisioning(i.e., without user intervention) as discussed in more detail below.

For RSN enabled networks, the mobile device 102 may be configured toaccess the RSN-enabled network without credentials. In theseembodiments, the mobile device 102 may be configured to send a genericserver access (GAS) request (such as an IEEE 802.11u based GAS request)to request an on-line sign-up Network Access Identifier (NAI). Theon-line sign-up NAI may be received from the network using the GASquery. After receiving the NAI, the mobile device 102 may use the NAI inan Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) authentication process toindicate to the network that it intends to sign-up for service andcreate credentials for provisioning. The network may be configured toallow access to the mobile device 102 for this purpose without requiringuser authentication. The mobile device 102 may then perform server-sideauthentication as discussed in more detail below.

In some embodiments, operation 302 may include performing a four-wayhandshake (4WHS) to allow the mobile device 102 and the authenticator toderive session keys from a master key generated after the EAPauthentication process. The 4WHS may be in accordance with IEEE 802.11i,although this is not a requirement. In operation 302, the mobile device102 may be configured to establish a TLS session with a subscriptionserver 106 through the Wi-Fi hotspot 104 to receive the certificate ofthe subscription server 106. The certificate may be a Hotspot 2.0certificate that may be issued by a Hotspot 2.0 certificate authority(i.e., a Root Trust) and may be referred to as a root certificate.

In some embodiments, the mobile device 102 may establish the TLS sessionin operation 304 with the subscription server 106 in accordance with theprocedures of RFC 2560 and may perform server-side authentication usingHTTPS. In some embodiments, after establishing the TLS session with thesubscription server 106, the mobile device 102 may verify that thecertificate of the subscription server 106 has been signed by a Hotspot2.0 trust root. When the mobile device 102 verifies or is able to verifythat the certificate of the subscription server 106 has been signed bythe Hotspot 2.0 root trust, the mobile device 102 may be configured toperform operation 306 to initiate new subscription establishment.

Embodiments disclosed herein are applicable to both open networks aswell as a secure 802.1x type of a network since a TLS session isestablished for credentials provisioning. Thus, the same processdescribed below may be used for both open/unsecure Wi-Fi networks andsecure Wi-Fi networks (e.g., with 802.1x security).

In some embodiments, to verify that the certificate of the subscriptionserver 106 has been signed by a Hotspot 2.0 root trust, the mobiledevice 102 may use a public key of the Hotspot 2.0 root trust to verifythe certificate. The public key may be obtained from a key server orfrom a storage element within the mobile device 102. When the mobiledevice 102 is unable to verify that the sign-up server's certificate hasbeen signed by a Hotspot 2.0 root trust, or when the sign-up server'scertificate has not been signed by a Hotspot 2.0 root trust, the mobiledevice 102 may abort the on-line sign-up and provisioning process andrelease/end the established TLS session.

In operation 306, the mobile device 102 may transmit an online signupprotocol (osp) post-device data (ospPostDevData) message in accordancewith a SOAP technique to the subscription server 106. The message mayinclude a request reason (requestReason) value as well as deviceinformation (DevInfo) and device detail (DevDetail). In someembodiments, the device information and device detail information may beOMA-DM DevInfo and OMA-DM DevDetail MOs, such as those disclosed inpatent application Ser. No. 13/188,205. The mobile device 102 may setthe value for the request reason in the message to “subscriptionregistration” indicating that the mobile device 102 wishes to registerfor credentials.

For subscription remediation, the mobile device 102 may set the valuefor the request reason in the message to “subscription remediation”indicating that the mobile device 102 wishes to perform subscriptionremediation. These embodiments are discussed in more detail below (seeFIG. 5).

In operation 308, the subscription server 106 may use the informationprovided in the DevInfo and DevDetail MOs to determine the type ofcredentials to provision (i.e., user/password credentials or certificatebased credentials). In the embodiments described in FIG. 3,certificate-based credentials are to be provisioned. In operation 308,the subscription server 106 may transmit an ospPostDevDataResponsemessage in accordance with a SOAP technique to the mobile device 102.Since the mobile device 102 has requested subscription registration, thesubscription server 106 may returns a command for the mobile device tolaunch a browser to the URI supplied in the message.

In operation 310, upon receiving the Execute:LaunchBrowsertoURI commandfrom the subscription server 106, the mobile device 102 may launch thebrowser, establish a secure HTTPS connection to the URI returned inoperation 308, and may send an HTTPS GET request to the online serverURI returned in operation 308.

In operation 312, the mobile device 102 and the subscription server 106may exchange any required user information requested by the serviceprovider for subscription creation. This exchange may involve providinginformation about the user, selecting appropriate subscription plans,providing any credit-card information or payment information, andestablishing policy and other parameters.

After the exchange of registration data in operation 312, operation 314is performed in which the mobile device 102 may retrieve from thesubscription server 106 an ospUserInputResponse XML instance document.If no error occurred, the ospUserInputResponse is a container forospStatus and the getCertificate exec command. The web browser may passthe XML instance document to the locally registered helper applicationfor processing (e.g., a connection manager). The XML instance documentmay contain the URI of the certificate enrollment server 110 as well asother metadata needed for certificate enrollment.

Operation 316 is performed when certificate based credentials are to beprovisioned. The certificate enrollment procedure of operation 316 maybe performed in accordance with a certificate-enrollment protocol (e.g.,certificate-management protocol (CMP) or simple certificate enrollmentprotocol (SCEP)) to provision the mobile device 102 with a subscriptioncertificate for authentication with the service provider. In someembodiments, the certificate enrollment process may be configured totake less than sixty seconds under typical conditions. Typicalconditions may include when the Wi-Fi hotspot 102 and the core networkof the service provider core are not congested and the certificateenrollment server 110 is not overloaded. At the end of a successfulprocedure, the mobile device 102 will have been provisioned asubscription certificate that is used for authentication with the Wi-Finetwork of that service provider. When unsuccessful, the mobile device102 will be notified of certificate enrollment failure.

The subscription certificate received in operation 316 may be an X.509type certificate suitable for use for EAP-TLS based authentication witha network. In some embodiments, the subscription certificate may be anX.509v3 certificate and may be configured in accordance with an ITU-Tstandard for a public key infrastructure (PKI) for single sign-on (SSO)and Privilege Management Infrastructure (PMI).

In operation 318, the mobile device 102 may initiate and re-negotiate aTLS connection to the subscription server 106 in accordance with theprocedures of RFC 2560. If certificate enrollment was successful, themobile device 102 may be configured to use the provisioned certificatewhen performing TLS authentication. If certificate enrollment failed(e.g., the mobile device 102 did not receive a certificate), the mobiledevice 102 may perform server-side only authentication when performingTLS authentication. If TLS authentication fails, the mobile device 102may be configured to abort the credential provisioning process.

In operation 320, the mobile device may transmit an ospPostDevDatamessage in accordance with a SOAP technique to the subscription server106. The message may the device detail and device info MOs. The mobiledevice 102 may set the request reason value in this message to“Certificate enrollment completed” if certificate enrollment succeededor “Certificate enrollment failed” if certificate enrollment failed.

In operation 322, when certificate enrollment succeeded, thesubscription server 106 transmits an ospPostDevDataResponse message inaccordance with the SOAP technique to the mobile device 102. Thismessage may include an add MO (addMO) command and the subscription MO.The subscription MO may include certificate identifiers binding theprovisioned certificate to the subscription as well as ancillaryprovisioning data. In the ospPostDevDataResponse message, a status(i.e., ospStatus) value may be set to “provisioning complete” toindicate that the subscription and certificate provisioning process hasbeen completed.

In operation 324, the mobile device 102 may release the TLS sessionestablished in operation 304. In operation 326, the mobile device 102may disassociate from the Wi-Fi network.

In operation 328, if the subscription was established successfully inoperation 316, the mobile device 102 may associate again with the Wi-Fihotspot 104 (i.e., with the same service-set identifier (SSID) or thesame HESSID) using the newly-obtained credentials (i.e., the credentialsprovisioned in operation 322).

FIG. 4 illustrates messages exchanged for secure on-line sign-up andprovisioning of username/password type credentials using SOAP-XML inaccordance with some embodiments.

Operations 402, 404, 406 and 408 are similar to operations 302, 304, 306and 308, except that in operation 408, the subscription server 106 mayuse the information provided in the DevInfo and DevDetail MOs todetermine that user/password credentials are to be provisioned.

Operations 410 and 412 are similar to operations 310 and 312.

In operation 422, the mobile device 102 may retrieve from thesubscription server 106 an ospUserInputResponse XML instance documentand the subscription server 106 may transmit an ospPostDevDataResponsemessage in accordance with the SOAP technique to the mobile device 102.This message may include an add MO (addMO) command and the subscriptionMO.

In operation 424, the mobile device 102 may release the TLS sessionestablished in operation 404. In operation 426, the mobile device 102may disassociate from the Wi-Fi network.

In operation 428, if the subscription was established successfully inStep-7, the mobile device 102 may associate again with the Wi-Fi Hotspot104 (i.e., with the same service-set identifier (SSID) or the sameHESSID) using the newly-obtained credentials (i.e., the credentialsprovisioned in operation 422).

FIG. 5 illustrates messages exchanged for subscription remediation usingSOAP-XML in accordance with some embodiments. From time-to-time, theuser's subscription or account may be in need of remediation. Theservice provider may determine when this is necessary, but examplesinclude password expiration and delinquent payment of the account. Theneed for subscription remediation may be stored in a subscriber'ssubscription database entry in the service provider's AAA Server, suchas AAA server 126. Subsequent to an authentication request from thatsubscriber on a Wi-Fi network, the need for remediation may be signaledto the mobile device 102. The mobile device 102 may then engage in asubscription remediation message exchange with the subscriptionremediation server as discussed below.

In operation 502, the mobile device 102 associates with the Wi-Fihotspot 104 and performs authentication process that includes an EAPmethod, similar to that of operation 202 (FIG. 2). When the serviceprovider determines that subscription remediation is needed, inoperation 503 the AAA server 126 is configured to send a RADIUSACCESS-ACCEPT message with a URL re-direct to the authenticator at theend of the EAP authentication sequence. The RADIUS ACCESS-ACCEPT messagemay include access restrictions to limit access to the mobile device 102for purposes of subscription mediation. The URL re-direct may indicatethe URL of the subscription remediation server 506.

In operation 513, the authenticator shall cause the Wi-Fi hotspot 104(with which the mobile device has authenticated) to transmit to themobile device 102 an action frame that indicates the need forsubscription remediation. The action frame may be a vendor specific (VS)action frame. In other embodiments, the mobile device 102 may usetechniques (i.e., other than receipt of the action frame) to determinethat limited connectivity exists (e.g., due to access restrictions) andto determine that subscription remediation is needed.

In operation 518, the mobile device 102 may establish a TLS connectionwith the subscription remediation server 506 similar to operation 304(FIG. 4). The mobile device 102 may be configured to verify that thecertificate of the subscription remediation server 506 has not beenrevoked. In some embodiments, the mobile device 102 may use an OnlineCertificate Status Protocol (OCSP) technique within the TLS connectionto determine the status of the certificate. If the certificate has beenrevoked, the mobile device 102 may abort the subscription remediationprocess. If the mobile device 102 is unable to initiate a TLS connectionto the subscription remediation server 506, it may also be configured toabort the subscription remediation process. The mobile device 102 may beconfigured to prevent attempts to perform subscription remediation usingHTTP (i.e., without the security of HTTPS).

In operation 520, the mobile device 102 may be configured to transmit anospPostDevData message in accordance with a SOAP technique to thesubscription remediation server 506, similar to that of operation 306.The message may be configured to include Open Mobile AllianceDevice-Management (OMA-DM) protocol DevInfo, DevDetail and SubscriptionMOs, and the value for requestReason may be set to “Subscriptionremediation”. The subscription remediation server 506 may request HTTPauthentication using the digest method and the mobile device 102 mayprovide a username and password digest to the server. If HTTPauthentication is not successful, subscription remediation may not bepossible and the mobile device 102 may be configured to abort theprocess and may inform the user accordingly.

In operation 522, the subscription remediation server 506 may transmitthe ospPostDevDataResponse message in accordance with a SOAP techniqueto the mobile device 102. The message may include XML data for one ormore interior nodes of the subscription MO (described in more detailbelow). The mobile device 102 may be configured to replace one or moreinterior nodes of the subscription MO with updated credentials receivedin the message. The ospStatus in the ospPostDevDataResponse message maybe set to “Remediation complete” to indicate the subscriptionremediation process has been completed.

In operation 524, the mobile device 102 may release the TLS that wasestablished in operation 518 and may dissociate with the Wi-Fi networkin operation 526. In operation 528, the mobile device 102 may thenassociate using the credentials that were updated during thesubscription remediation process.

Embodiments disclosed herein are applicable to machine remediation aswell as user remediation. Machine remediation refers to problem(s) withthe subscription can be remediated without any user intervention. Userremediation refers to problem(s) with the subscription that may requireuser intervention to remediate.

FIG. 6 illustrates a management object tree in accordance with someembodiments. The management object tree 600 may be stored in mobiledevice 102 and may include tree root 601, a subscription MO 602 for eachservice provider (SP) as well as the FQDN 608 for each service provider.The management object tree 600 may also include a device information MO606 (DevInfo) and a device detail MO 604 (DevDetails). The managementobject tree 600 may also include Wi-Fi MO 610 for device specific Wi-Fiobjects.

In some embodiments, the device detail MO 604 may include deviceinformation such as model, vendor info, type of adaptor, adaptorconfiguration, etc. and user information. The device detail MO 604 mayinclude additional information such as URI from where additional infospecific to device may be obtained, device type (e.g., PC Card, USB,modem, express card, gaming device, music player, navigation device),OEM name, firmware version, software version, hardware version andwhether the host device supports large object handling. The device infoMO 606 may include a unique identifier (e.g., the GUID) for host device,a manufacturer identifier, device model, SOAP client version identifier,and the language setting of the host device.

FIG. 7 illustrates a mobile device in accordance with some embodiments.Mobile device 700 may be suitable for use as mobile device 102 and maybe configured to perform the various operations discussed above forsecure on-line sign-up and provisioning of credentials, as well assubscription remediation.

Mobile device 700 may include physical-layer circuitry 702 configuredfor wireless communications with Wi-Fi hot spots, such as Wi-Fi hotspot104 (FIG. 1) using one or more of antennas 701. Mobile device 700 mayalso include processing circuitry 704, which may be configured forperforming the operations described herein along with memory 706 forstoring, among other things, the provisioned credentials and asubscription MO 602 (FIG. 6) as well as the other elements of themanagement object tree 600 (FIG. 6). The processing circuitry 704 mayinclude SOAP processing element 125 for performing the various SOAPtechniques described herein. Mobile device 700 may also include otherfunctional elements, such as media-access control (MAC) layer circuitryfor media access control for performing other operations.

In the case of a single-mode mobile device, the physical layer circuitry702 may be configured for communicating with Wi-Fi networks. Indual-mode embodiments, the physical layer circuitry 702 may beconfigured for communicating with both cellular networks and Wi-Finetworks. In dual-mode embodiments, the mobile device 700 may includeboth a Wi-Fi transceiver and one or more cellular network transceivers.In dual-mode embodiments, the mobile device 700 may also be configuredto offload traffic from the cellular network to the available Wi-Finetworks.

In some embodiments, mobile device 700 may be a portable wirelesscommunication device, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), alaptop or portable computer with wireless communication capability, aweb tablet, a wireless telephone, a smart-phone, a wireless headset, apager, an instant messaging device, a digital camera, an access point, atelevision, a medical or health device, an entertainment device, orother device that may receive and/or transmit information wirelessly.

Antennas 701 may comprise one or more directional or omnidirectionalantennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas,patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other types ofantennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some embodiments,instead of two or more antennas, a single antenna with multipleapertures may be used. In these embodiments, each aperture may beconsidered a separate antenna. In some multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO) embodiments, antennas 701 may be effectively separated to takeadvantage of spatial diversity and the different channel characteristicsthat may result between each of antennas 701 and the antennas of atransmitting station.

Although the mobile device 700 is illustrated as having several separatefunctional elements, one or more of the functional elements may becombined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configuredelements, such as processing elements including digital signalprocessors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. For example, someelements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs, applicationspecific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio-frequency integratedcircuits (RFICs) and combinations of various hardware and logiccircuitry for performing at least the functions described herein. Insome embodiments, the functional elements of mobile device 700 may referto one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

Embodiments may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware,firmware and software. Embodiments may also be implemented asinstructions stored on a computer-readable storage device, which may beread and executed by at least one processor to perform the operationsdescribed herein. A computer-readable storage device may include anynon-transitory mechanism for storing information in a form readable by amachine (e.g., a computer). For example, a computer-readable storagedevice may include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM),magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash-memorydevices, and other storage devices and media. In some embodiments, oneor more processors and may be configured with instructions stored on acomputer-readable storage device to implement the various operationsdescribed herein.

The Abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. Section 1.72(b)requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to ascertain the natureand gist of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with theunderstanding that it will not be used to limit or interpret the scopeor meaning of the claims. The following claims are hereby incorporatedinto the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as aseparate embodiment.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method performed by a mobile device for secureon-line sign-up and provisioning for Wi-Fi Hotspot 2.0 networks, themethod comprising: authenticating with a Wi-Fi access network (AN)through a Wi-Fi Hotspot using Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP);performing an initial Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) exchange witha subscription server to authenticate the subscription server and toprovide an indication of a request reason; and performing a final SOAPexchange with the subscription server over the Wi-Fi network, wherein,when the subscription server acts as an online sign-up server (OSU), themethod includes: exchanging information with the OSU to establish asubscription with a service provider for Wi-Fi network access and toreceive a subscription management object (MO) including provisionedcredentials for the subscription; disassociating with the Wi-Fi Hotspotafter the final SOAP exchange; and re-associating with the Wi-Fi Hotspotto re-establish a Wi-Fi connection, the re-associating using an EAPtechnique and including: providing the provisioned credentials to an AAAserver over the re-established Wi-Fi connection.
 2. The method of claim1 wherein the initial SOAP exchange further includes: providing devicecapability information of the mobile device, and wherein the requestreason comprises credential provisioning and subscription remediation.3. The method of claim 1 wherein the initial SOAP exchange and the finalSOAP exchange comprise messages configured in accordance with a SOAPtechnique using secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS) as anapplication layer protocol for transport, and wherein the messages areconfigured in accordance with an extensible-markup language (XML)message format.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the initial SOAPexchange comprises: transmitting, by the mobile device, an online signupprotocol (osp) post-device data (ospPostDevData) message in accordancewith the SOAP technique to the subscription server, the messageincluding device information (DevInfo) and device detail (DevDetail);and receiving an ospPostDevDataResponse message in accordance with theSOAP technique from the subscription server, the response messageincluding a Execute:LaunchBrowsertoURl command, wherein the mobiledevice is configured to launch a browser, establish a secure HTTPSconnection to an online server URI received in the response message andsend an HTTPS GET request to the online server URI.
 5. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising: receiving, as part of the initial SOAPexchange with the subscription server, an indication of a type ofcredentials to be provisioned, wherein the type of credentials to beprovisioned includes one of certificate-based credentials,username/password credentials, or subscriber-information module (SIM)type credentials.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein when subscriptionmediation is needed, the method includes receiving an action messageindicating a need for subscription remediation after associating withthe Wi-Fi Hotspot, and wherein during the initial SOAP exchange, themethod further includes requesting subscription remediation with asubscription mediation server and exchanging information in accordancewith a SOAP technique.
 7. A device including one or more processors, theone or more processors including circuitry, the circuitry having logicto: authenticate with a Wi-Fi access network (AN) through a Wi-FiHotspot using Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP); perform aninitial Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) exchange with asubscription server to authenticate the subscription server, and toprovide an indication of a request reason; and perform a final SOAPexchange with the subscription server over the Wi-Fi network, wherein,when the subscription server acts as an online sign-up server (OSU), thelogic is further to: exchange information with the OSU to establish asubscription with a service provider for Wi-Fi network access and toreceive a subscription management object (MO) including provisionedcredentials for the subscription.
 8. The device of claim 7 wherein aspart of the initial SOAP exchange, the logic is further to: providedevice capability information of the device, wherein the request reasoncomprises one of credential provisioning and subscription remediation.9. The device of claim 7 wherein the initial SOAP exchange and the finalSOAP exchange comprise messages configured in accordance with a SOAPtechnique using secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS) as anapplication layer protocol for transport, and wherein the messages areconfigured in accordance with an extensible-markup language (XML)message format.
 10. The device of claim 7, wherein the logic is furtherto: provide a web page user prompt to receive user input; exchange theuser input in a user exchange with the subscription server; and receivea notification from the subscription server as to whether the userexchange is complete.
 11. The device of claim 8, wherein when the reasonfor the request is provisioning of credentials, the logic is to receive,from the subscription server, an indication of a type of credentials tobe provisioned by the server.
 12. The device of claim 8, wherein whenthe reason for the request is to request subscription mediation, theinitial SOAP exchange is to include the device receiving an indicationof an authentication from the subscription server.
 13. The device ofclaim 7, wherein the device further includes: memory; and one or moretransceivers.
 14. The device of claim 13, wherein the device furtherincludes: one or more antennas.
 15. A method performed by a subscriptionserver to provide secure on-line sign-up and provisioning for Wi-FiHotspot 2.0 networks for a mobile device, the method comprising: sendingan accept message to a Wi-Fi hotspot from an AAA server to allow amobile device access to the Wi-Fi network and establish a Wi-Ficonnection with the mobile device; performing an initial Simple ObjectAccess Protocol (SOAP) exchange with the mobile device to provisioncredentials or perform subscription remediation, the initial SOAPexchange including the mobile device authenticating the subscriptionserver; performing a final SOAP exchange with the mobile device over theWi-Fi network to allow the mobile device to receive a subscriptionmanagement object (MO); and exchanging information with the mobiledevice to establish a subscription with a service provider for Wi-Finetwork access, to provision credentials for the subscription, and tocreate the subscription MO for the provisioned credentials.
 16. Themethod of claim 15 wherein the accept message is a RADIUS ACCESS-ACCEPTmessage that includes access restrictions to be enforced by the Wi-FiHotspot, the access restrictions to limit access of the mobile device tothe Wi-Fi network for either provisioning of credentials or subscriptionremediation, and wherein the accept message is sent in response to themobile device associating with the Wi-Fi Hotspot using an ExtensibleAuthentication Protocol (EAP) technique.
 17. The method of claim 16wherein as part of the initial SOAP exchange with the subscriptionserver, the method includes: determining a type of credentials to beprovisioned and indicating the type of credentials to be provisioned tothe mobile device, wherein the type of credentials to be provisionedincludes one of certificate-based credentials, username/passwordcredentials, or subscriber-information module (SIM) type credentials.18. A non-transitory machine-readable medium that stores instructionsfor execution by one or more processors to configure a device to:associate with a Wi-Fi network through a Wi-Fi Hotspot using anExtensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) technique; perform an initialSimple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) exchange with a subscription serverto authenticate the subscription server, and to provide an indication ofa request reason; and perform a final SOAP exchange with thesubscription server over the Wi-Fi network, wherein, when thesubscription server acts as an online sign-up server (OSU), theinstructions further configure the device to: exchange information withthe OSU to establish a subscription with a service provider for Wi-Finetwork access, and to receive a subscription management object (MO)including provisioned credentials for the subscription; disassociatewith the Wi-Fi Hotspot after the final SOAP exchange; and re-associatewith the Wi-Fi Hotspot to re-establish a Wi-Fi connection, there-associating using an EAP technique and including: providing theprovisioned credentials to an AAA server over the re-established Wi-Ficonnection.
 19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 18wherein the instructions further configure the device to: provide devicecapability information of the device, wherein the request reasoncomprises one of provisioning of credentials or remediation of asubscription.
 20. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim18, wherein the initial and final SOAP exchanges comprise messagesconfigured in accordance with a SOAP technique using secure HypertextTransfer Protocol (HTTPS) as an application layer protocol fortransport, and the messages are configured in accordance with anextensible-markup language (XML) message format.